Unions and Jewish Social Agencies

This piece explores the conflict between workers in Jewish social agencies and agencies themselves that in some cases lead to forms of organizations and actions considered by some to be improper. The author asserts that there is a difference between industrial strikes and strikes led by public service workers that generally hurt the public versus hurting the profit of a company. The author notes that there is also difficulty in defining the mutual obligation of the employee and employer in Jewish tradition when examining what is proper behavior, especially when authorities differ on how to interpret Jewish law and its applicability to these situations. The author concludes by asserting that there is no clear-cut guide within Jewish law for the issue of unionization but the spirit of Jewish tradition clearly asserts the need for caring for the deprived over everything else.